NEWSAR
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SRCSouth China Morning Post
LANGEN
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ENT5
WED · 2026-03-18 · 09:00 GMTBRIEF NSR-2026-0318-25614
News/J-20 fighter jet designer scrubbed from Chinese Academy of S…
NSR-2026-0318-25614News Report·EN·National Security

J-20 fighter jet designer scrubbed from Chinese Academy of Sciences website

Yang Wei, a 62-year-old chief designer of China's J-20 stealth fighter jet, has been removed from the website of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, according to a snapshot on Internet Archive. Yang was previously listed as a member of the academy, but his name is no longer visible on the site.

Alcott WeiSouth China Morning PostFiled 2026-03-18 · 09:00 GMTLean · Center-RightRead · 1 min
J-20 fighter jet designer scrubbed from Chinese Academy of Sciences website
South China Morning PostFIG 01
Reading time
1min
Word count
154words
Sources cited
1cited
Entities identified
5entities
Quality score
100%
§ 01

Briefing Summary

AI-generated
NEWSAR · AI

Yang Wei, a 62-year-old chief designer of China's J-20 stealth fighter jet, has been removed from the website of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, according to a snapshot on Internet Archive. Yang was previously listed as a member of the academy, but his name is no longer visible on the site. The reason for his removal and absence from public view are unclear. Yang had been promoted to deputy manager at AVIC in 2018, a key player in China's military modernization. No explanation has been given for his removal or the deletion of his name from the academy's website. His disappearance comes amid a sweeping campaign to stamp out corruption in the defence sector.

Confidence 0.85Sources 1Claims 5Entities 5
§ 02

Article analysis

Model · rule-based
Framing
National Security
Political Strategy
Tone
Measured
AI-assessed
CalmNeutralAlarmist
Factuality
0.80 / 1.00
Factual
LowHigh
Sources cited
1
Limited
FewMany
§ 03

Key claims

5 extracted
01

Yang was promoted to the position of deputy manager of AVIC in 2018.

factualnull
Confidence
1.00
02

Yang Wei has not appeared in public for more than a year.

factualnull
Confidence
1.00
03

Yang Wei, chief designer on the J-20, has been removed from the Chinese Academy of Sciences website.

factualnull
Confidence
1.00
04

AVIC is a key player in China’s military modernisation.

factualnull
Confidence
0.90
05

The removal occurred amid a sweeping campaign to stamp out corruption in the defence sector.

factualnull
Confidence
0.80
§ 04

Full report

1 min read · 154 words
The chief designer on the J-20 stealth fighter jet has been removed from the website of China’s national research institute, amid a sweeping campaign to stamp out corruption in the defence sector.Yang Wei, 62, had been listed as a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the top academic body for science and technology.But as of Monday, his name was no longer on the site, according to a snapshot from Internet Archive, which seeks to preserve online content.Yang has not appeared in public for more than a year. No explanation has been given for his absence, or for the removal of his name from the site.10:01What do we know about China’s two next-generation aircraft?What do we know about China’s two next-generation aircraft?Yang was promoted to the position of deputy manager of AVIC in 2018. The aircraft manufacturer is a key player in China’s military modernisation and a major supplier and developer of fighter jets.
§ 05

Entities

5 identified
§ 06

Keywords & salience

8 terms
j-20 fighter jet
1.00
yang wei
0.90
chinese academy of sciences
0.70
corruption
0.60
defence sector
0.60
military modernisation
0.50
avic
0.50
stealth fighter
0.40
§ 07

Topic connections

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